COMPOSERS: Schumann
LABELS: Orfeo
WORKS: Genoveva
PERFORMER: Harald Stamm, Alan Titus, Julia Faulkner, Keith Lewis, Renate Behle, Carl Schultz, Johann TilliHamburg State Opera Chorus, Hamburg State PO/Gerd Albrecht
CATALOGUE NO: C 289 932 H DDD
Schumann’s only opera, Genoveva, has a reputation as a fine score fatally lacking the dramatic spark. It is a judgement fully endorsed by this live recording of a concert performance in Hamburg; indeed, the booklet note does a thorough demolition job on the work’s dramaturgy. What is lacking above all – despite one or two quite promising choruses – is theatrical immediacy and vivid characterisation. But the score is full of wonderfully lyrical music: Schumann is at his most inspired when he is able to give a character a reflective aria like an extended lied. Genoveva herself has a couple of these and Julia Faulkner gives an affecting portrayal of the wrongfully accused heroine. Well worth exploring. Barry Millington
Schumann: Genoveva
Schumann’s only opera, Genoveva, has a reputation as a fine score fatally lacking the dramatic spark. It is a judgement fully endorsed by this live recording of a concert performance in Hamburg; indeed, the booklet note does a thorough demolition job on the work’s dramaturgy. What is lacking above all – despite one or two quite promising choruses – is theatrical immediacy and vivid characterisation. But the score is full of wonderfully lyrical music: Schumann is at his most inspired when he is able to give a character a reflective aria like an extended lied.
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:30 pm